Monday was a public holiday (a day off in lieu of Australia Day, which was on Saturday).
So Jim and I trundled down to Mount Martha on Saturday morning. Lindsey was already there, having, you may remember, extracted Stella from the hospital on Friday evening. She went back to Ballarat after lunch. We stayed down.
Stella was quite frail and tottery after her extended stay in hospital. It is difficult to eat and drink properly when you are lying flat on your back, not allowed to move. Also, the bruise down her side was very painful. She was not a happy camper.
So we set to, to feed her up, hydrate her and amuse her.
We had Sunday lunch at the Dava.
We went for a drive along the coast road in the sunshine. Mother has not once, not ever set foot on the Mount Martha beach, not in the quarter of a century that she has lived there. But she likes to look at it. And there are some beautiful views along the coast road.
We tried for lunch at Fine Foods in Mount Martha on Monday but were seriously thwarted. I have never seen such traffic heading into Mount Martha. I have never seen so many people on the beach, nor so many power boats in the bay, nor so many sailing boats. The life saving club was packed. The little yacht club was packed. There were cars parked EVERYWHERE. There were people everywhere.
I have no idea what was going on on the beach, but I assume some sort of event.
It was, it must be said, a beautiful day, but I had assumed that it would be fairly quiet. It was the last day of the long weekend that marks the end of the school summer holidays. I had vaguely assumed that people would have packed up in the morning and be making their way home, to prepare for the start of the school year. But no. They were cluttering up Mount Martha. There was no chance of parking anywhere near Fine Foods.
We went back to Stella's place and had sandwiches and salad for lunch there. Then Jim and I headed back to Mount Helen along roads that were surprisingly clear. Everyone was obviously still on the Mount Martha beach 😄
Sunset from Hill House, Mount Helen. February 2024
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Poor Stella
Poor Stella went into hospital on Monday of last week for a routine angiogram. She was expected to be in for half a day, perhaps overnight.
Alas, the entry site bruised and bled. Then it bruised and bled. Then it bruised and bled some more.
She had to lie flat on her bed and not move while they applied pressure, and injected it and did other, arcane things.
They called in a vascular surgeon, although I don't think he performed any surgery.
Lindsey went to collect her. Belinda went to collect her. Matthew went to visit, and perhaps to collect her. Emily went. Wendy went.
It wasn't until Friday that we managed to spring her. Lindsey finally managed to grab her and take her home on Friday evening when she went down after work.
I don't think we should let her go into hospital any more. It doesn't seem todo her much good.
And you should see the bruise. It almost cover her entire side!
Alas, the entry site bruised and bled. Then it bruised and bled. Then it bruised and bled some more.
She had to lie flat on her bed and not move while they applied pressure, and injected it and did other, arcane things.
They called in a vascular surgeon, although I don't think he performed any surgery.
Lindsey went to collect her. Belinda went to collect her. Matthew went to visit, and perhaps to collect her. Emily went. Wendy went.
It wasn't until Friday that we managed to spring her. Lindsey finally managed to grab her and take her home on Friday evening when she went down after work.
I don't think we should let her go into hospital any more. It doesn't seem todo her much good.
And you should see the bruise. It almost cover her entire side!
Friday, January 25, 2019
Marlo
Marlo came to us as a tiny, tiny kitten.
I have to say that I wasn't keen to have him. I had been enjoying the freedoms that not having a pet brings. But when Freyja came home and said a friend of a friend had a tiny kitten that needed a home, I was somehow persuaded that that home should be ours.
And the next day someone turned up and handed me the tiny kitten and some cat food. Tiny kittens need kitten food, not grown up cat food! I had to go out and get age appropriate food for him. Marlo was the only cat I ever had that settled in immediately. You could hear him thinking: Yup; this will do. He made himself right at home. I wonder if it was the kitten food that did it :-D
Freyja says that there was much discussion about whose cat Marlo was. He lived in the flat we were in when he arrived. He stayed there when I moved out. When Tabitha and Gareth moved to Cambridge, Marlo came to Tupton where Jim and I were living. He stayed there until I came to Australia, when he moved in with Freyja and Simon. Then, when they too came to Australia, he moved in with Tabitha, Gareth, Cally and Flynn. As Freyja says, it didn't matter who we thought he belonged to. The reality was that we all belonged to him.
He had a long life, mostly in good health. He faded over the last couple of days of it and made his final trip to the vet on Monday. A gentle way to go. He has left a much bigger hole in our lives than you would think something the size of a cat could do.
I have to say that I wasn't keen to have him. I had been enjoying the freedoms that not having a pet brings. But when Freyja came home and said a friend of a friend had a tiny kitten that needed a home, I was somehow persuaded that that home should be ours.
And the next day someone turned up and handed me the tiny kitten and some cat food. Tiny kittens need kitten food, not grown up cat food! I had to go out and get age appropriate food for him. Marlo was the only cat I ever had that settled in immediately. You could hear him thinking: Yup; this will do. He made himself right at home. I wonder if it was the kitten food that did it :-D
Freyja says that there was much discussion about whose cat Marlo was. He lived in the flat we were in when he arrived. He stayed there when I moved out. When Tabitha and Gareth moved to Cambridge, Marlo came to Tupton where Jim and I were living. He stayed there until I came to Australia, when he moved in with Freyja and Simon. Then, when they too came to Australia, he moved in with Tabitha, Gareth, Cally and Flynn. As Freyja says, it didn't matter who we thought he belonged to. The reality was that we all belonged to him.
He had a long life, mostly in good health. He faded over the last couple of days of it and made his final trip to the vet on Monday. A gentle way to go. He has left a much bigger hole in our lives than you would think something the size of a cat could do.
Vale, Marlo. The best cat ever (but don't tell the ones that went before you that I said that!!)
Monday, January 21, 2019
A 70th birthday party
Some months ago, our friend Chris invited us to lunch at her place on Sunday 20th January. It was her 70th birthday on the Monday and she intended to have a few friends round to lunch. Mostly former work colleagues. Jim and I, plus Irene and Gillie all accepted. I put the date on the old calendar, then transferred it to the new calendar when it arrived.
A few weeks ago I got an email from Chris' daughter. She and her father had been planning a surprise party for her, on the day we were supposed to be going to lunch. I think there were to be about 12 guests at the lunch. We were all informed about the change of plan and requested not to say anything.
An invitation arrived in the post. Chris still didn't know anything.
I pondered how she would be stopped buying all the stuff for her lunch party. I would have been planning for weeks for such an event and would have all the non-perishable stuff in place. I would have had the perishables in place by Friday or Saturday. Chris, it seemed, did have much of the stuff ready but had been persuaded not to buy all the perishables earlier.
The party was in the Rainforest Room at the zoo. So Jim and I commandeered the flat for the weekend and made our way to the zoo on the tram. I think there were about 50 people, all up. Chris was told on Sunday morning that her lunch party would be going ahead, but not at her place. No cooking for her. Her guests would meet her at the new venue. (She had been wondering why I hadn't said what train we would be on so John could pick us up at the station - I had worked out the tram times instead :-D )
I think Chris was surprised when she walked in to the Rainforest Room and found us all there waiting for her. I do so hope they were tears of joy and not tears of rage! She had, after all, spent quite a lot of time making quail egg Scotch eggs. Not difficult, as such, but very fiddly to assemble
It was a lovely party. There were many people that I had once worked with, plus people that I had heard about but not previously met. Chris, obviously, knew everyone there, but I think there were people that she hadn't seen for some time. There was lots of wine and the food was delicious (I particularly enjoyed my snapper with ginger and a honey dressing. I do like a nice piece of snapper). Jim had a good time. He enjoys having new people to talk to. We had a delicious chocolate cake for the birthday cake and a bit more chatter with old and new friends.
And then we went back to the flat on a tram. No dinner for us on Sunday evening!
Chris' husband John and daughter Megan had obviously worked very hard on organising the surprise party - plus almost as hard getting the house and garden ready for the lunch party that didn't happen at home. Absolutely worth it. It was a memorable 70th birthday celebration.
And now Jim and I are getting ready to head back home. Just waiting for the Back-to-Work-on-Monday-after-the-Summer-Holiday traffic to disperse before we hit the roads. I'm not sure why the radio people have declared the summer to be over. Schools in Victoria don't go back until later next week, plus there is still another month of official summer to go. The weather in March is often beautiful and quite summery. Seems a bit hasty to be asking what people "did" over the summer. I still have summery plans. I guess, though, that the radio stations have their regular presenters back after their Christmas and January break. Normal transmission has resumed.
And I will be back in Melbourne as normal tomorrow, leaving Jim in the charge of Rupert and Hugo.
A few weeks ago I got an email from Chris' daughter. She and her father had been planning a surprise party for her, on the day we were supposed to be going to lunch. I think there were to be about 12 guests at the lunch. We were all informed about the change of plan and requested not to say anything.
An invitation arrived in the post. Chris still didn't know anything.
I pondered how she would be stopped buying all the stuff for her lunch party. I would have been planning for weeks for such an event and would have all the non-perishable stuff in place. I would have had the perishables in place by Friday or Saturday. Chris, it seemed, did have much of the stuff ready but had been persuaded not to buy all the perishables earlier.
The party was in the Rainforest Room at the zoo. So Jim and I commandeered the flat for the weekend and made our way to the zoo on the tram. I think there were about 50 people, all up. Chris was told on Sunday morning that her lunch party would be going ahead, but not at her place. No cooking for her. Her guests would meet her at the new venue. (She had been wondering why I hadn't said what train we would be on so John could pick us up at the station - I had worked out the tram times instead :-D )
I think Chris was surprised when she walked in to the Rainforest Room and found us all there waiting for her. I do so hope they were tears of joy and not tears of rage! She had, after all, spent quite a lot of time making quail egg Scotch eggs. Not difficult, as such, but very fiddly to assemble
It was a lovely party. There were many people that I had once worked with, plus people that I had heard about but not previously met. Chris, obviously, knew everyone there, but I think there were people that she hadn't seen for some time. There was lots of wine and the food was delicious (I particularly enjoyed my snapper with ginger and a honey dressing. I do like a nice piece of snapper). Jim had a good time. He enjoys having new people to talk to. We had a delicious chocolate cake for the birthday cake and a bit more chatter with old and new friends.
And then we went back to the flat on a tram. No dinner for us on Sunday evening!
Chris' husband John and daughter Megan had obviously worked very hard on organising the surprise party - plus almost as hard getting the house and garden ready for the lunch party that didn't happen at home. Absolutely worth it. It was a memorable 70th birthday celebration.
And now Jim and I are getting ready to head back home. Just waiting for the Back-to-Work-on-Monday-after-the-Summer-Holiday traffic to disperse before we hit the roads. I'm not sure why the radio people have declared the summer to be over. Schools in Victoria don't go back until later next week, plus there is still another month of official summer to go. The weather in March is often beautiful and quite summery. Seems a bit hasty to be asking what people "did" over the summer. I still have summery plans. I guess, though, that the radio stations have their regular presenters back after their Christmas and January break. Normal transmission has resumed.
And I will be back in Melbourne as normal tomorrow, leaving Jim in the charge of Rupert and Hugo.
Sunday, January 20, 2019
We were pottering around in a lazy sort of way at home yesterday morning. Tidying up, washing, ironing, that sort of thing.
Jim went outside to water the boxes and pots of plants.
I was on my way to tell him that I thought I might have a shower and go wild and get dressed in day clothes, when he burst in through the garage door. "Where is the water stop tap?" he demanded.
I don't know. Why would I know that? More to the point, why does he want to know that?
I went outside. And by the side of the house I saw an unexpected water feature. The top of the outside tap had unscrewed itself and burst off, so now the tap was running and lots of water was spouting out of the top, where the top had previously been.
Hmmmm. This won't do. All that lovely water pouring itself down the drain. I went looking for the stop tap. Electricity meter in that cupboard. Gas meter in amongst all those plants (not sure how the meter reader is supposed to get to it, but that is not my problem - or not immediately). No water meter, nor water tap.
So Jim took off his watch and his glasses and moved in to put the top back on the tap, getting quite wet in the process.
Success!!! Except that the tap won't turn off. Of course not. Where's the washer?
Found the washer in amongst all the plants. Jim went back, took the top off again. Got wet again. Replaced the washer. Put the top back on.
Success! Again!!! And this time the tap did turn off.
Jim has screwed the top back on with a wrench. With a bit of luck that should keep top and tap happily united.
I have found the water meter and stop tap. I knew there had to be a water meter and the tap is usually close by. For future reference, it is down by the mail boxes, but on the other side of the wall, slightly hidden away. Hopefully we will never need to know this again, but just in case.
We stopped pottering around, hopped in the car and went up to Hill House to collect my jacket, which I knew I had left in Lindsey's car on Friday evening. That didn't seem to be an issue - I didn't really need it for the next few days. Except that my keys were in the pocket and we did need my keys.
For we were heading down to Melbourne for a couple of nights. I needed my keys if we were to get into Lindsey and Ian's flat.
It was a beautiful afternoon when we arrived in East Melbourne, so we hopped on a tram and headed into town and round to South Wharf to the outlet centre. The river was buzzing. They had a food truck event happening outside the convention and exhibition centre. The bars and cafes were full. Everywhere was showing the tennis. The outlet centre was also full of happy shoppers. We hit the shops that I particularly wanted to go to, had lunch in the food hall and made our way back to the flat for a quiet evening in. I had thought about going out for dinner, but we had had a late and fairly substantial lunch and weren't particularly hungry. Take away from the fish and chip shop and the pizza shop below our feet, then.
It's looking like being another lovely day today. This is good. We are off to a birthday luncheon shortly. I should possibly think about getting organised. My new nightshirt is rather appealing but I think the locals might be a bit surprised if I get on the tram in it. I shall have a shower and put some more day clothes on. And hope that Jim doesn't create another water feature. Nor me, come to that. Unexpected indoor water features are even more alarming than outside ones
Jim went outside to water the boxes and pots of plants.
I was on my way to tell him that I thought I might have a shower and go wild and get dressed in day clothes, when he burst in through the garage door. "Where is the water stop tap?" he demanded.
I don't know. Why would I know that? More to the point, why does he want to know that?
I went outside. And by the side of the house I saw an unexpected water feature. The top of the outside tap had unscrewed itself and burst off, so now the tap was running and lots of water was spouting out of the top, where the top had previously been.
Hmmmm. This won't do. All that lovely water pouring itself down the drain. I went looking for the stop tap. Electricity meter in that cupboard. Gas meter in amongst all those plants (not sure how the meter reader is supposed to get to it, but that is not my problem - or not immediately). No water meter, nor water tap.
So Jim took off his watch and his glasses and moved in to put the top back on the tap, getting quite wet in the process.
Success!!! Except that the tap won't turn off. Of course not. Where's the washer?
Found the washer in amongst all the plants. Jim went back, took the top off again. Got wet again. Replaced the washer. Put the top back on.
Success! Again!!! And this time the tap did turn off.
Jim has screwed the top back on with a wrench. With a bit of luck that should keep top and tap happily united.
I have found the water meter and stop tap. I knew there had to be a water meter and the tap is usually close by. For future reference, it is down by the mail boxes, but on the other side of the wall, slightly hidden away. Hopefully we will never need to know this again, but just in case.
We stopped pottering around, hopped in the car and went up to Hill House to collect my jacket, which I knew I had left in Lindsey's car on Friday evening. That didn't seem to be an issue - I didn't really need it for the next few days. Except that my keys were in the pocket and we did need my keys.
For we were heading down to Melbourne for a couple of nights. I needed my keys if we were to get into Lindsey and Ian's flat.
It was a beautiful afternoon when we arrived in East Melbourne, so we hopped on a tram and headed into town and round to South Wharf to the outlet centre. The river was buzzing. They had a food truck event happening outside the convention and exhibition centre. The bars and cafes were full. Everywhere was showing the tennis. The outlet centre was also full of happy shoppers. We hit the shops that I particularly wanted to go to, had lunch in the food hall and made our way back to the flat for a quiet evening in. I had thought about going out for dinner, but we had had a late and fairly substantial lunch and weren't particularly hungry. Take away from the fish and chip shop and the pizza shop below our feet, then.
It's looking like being another lovely day today. This is good. We are off to a birthday luncheon shortly. I should possibly think about getting organised. My new nightshirt is rather appealing but I think the locals might be a bit surprised if I get on the tram in it. I shall have a shower and put some more day clothes on. And hope that Jim doesn't create another water feature. Nor me, come to that. Unexpected indoor water features are even more alarming than outside ones
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Lucky
We were very, very lucky with the weather on Sunday.
It was a beautiful day, high 20s, sunny.The strong winds of the morning had dropped to gentle breezes with occasional strong gusts.
The gazebo was up and we put lots of chairs under it. The picnic tables were filled with tasty things and looked lovely. We had Pimms, fruity soda water, wine. We had dips and cheeses; veg sticks and cheese crackers. We had meats to barbecue and salads and roast potatoes. There were apricot tarts and apple tarts for after.
We had guests. Stella had come from Mount Martha, via Hill House. Lindsey and Ian came down with her. Freyja and Simon came from Brunswick. Robert and Susan came with Rod from Melbourne.
Our garden looked lovely. The picnic area was very pretty. Ian deployed the barbecue to good effect.
We ate well, drank well and had a merry catch up.
It was a very lovely Sunday Lunch Party.
And I didn't take a single photo!!!!!!!!!!!
(I had thought to myself, before everyone arrived, that I must remember to deploy my camera and then in the loveliness of it all completely forgot :-S )
Since then it has been hot and humid. Yesterday was a Total Fire Ban day across the state. If the lunch party had been yesterday we wouldn't have sat outside and we wouldn't have used the barbecue.
Sunday was a glorious summer's day. We were very lucky.
It was a beautiful day, high 20s, sunny.The strong winds of the morning had dropped to gentle breezes with occasional strong gusts.
The gazebo was up and we put lots of chairs under it. The picnic tables were filled with tasty things and looked lovely. We had Pimms, fruity soda water, wine. We had dips and cheeses; veg sticks and cheese crackers. We had meats to barbecue and salads and roast potatoes. There were apricot tarts and apple tarts for after.
We had guests. Stella had come from Mount Martha, via Hill House. Lindsey and Ian came down with her. Freyja and Simon came from Brunswick. Robert and Susan came with Rod from Melbourne.
Our garden looked lovely. The picnic area was very pretty. Ian deployed the barbecue to good effect.
We ate well, drank well and had a merry catch up.
It was a very lovely Sunday Lunch Party.
And I didn't take a single photo!!!!!!!!!!!
(I had thought to myself, before everyone arrived, that I must remember to deploy my camera and then in the loveliness of it all completely forgot :-S )
Since then it has been hot and humid. Yesterday was a Total Fire Ban day across the state. If the lunch party had been yesterday we wouldn't have sat outside and we wouldn't have used the barbecue.
Sunday was a glorious summer's day. We were very lucky.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Summer days
And we did use the barbecue over the weekend. We had lamb steak on Saturday evening and rump steak on Sunday evening. We sat outside and ate our meals using the picnic table and the gazebo. It was very much like camping in the countryside, except that we went back in the house as darkness fell and slept in our bed and not in a tent!
On Monday I abandoned Jim to his own devices and trundled down to Mount Martha to take Stella to her GP appointment. I was quite shocked when we went into his waiting room. We had barely had time to sit down when he called us in. I expect to wait for at least 30 minutes. It's my quiet time, waiting in a doctor's waiting room. I had things to read and everything!!! But no. No quiet time for me.
We drove back along the beach road and had lunch in Fine Foods and a potter in the Mount Martha shops. It was a beautiful day and holiday makers were making the most of the sunshine. The cafes and coffee shops were all nice and busy.
I left Mount Martha early on Tuesday morning and went back to work. It's still fairly quiet on the roads so was a pleasant drive into town. It was fairly quiet at the surgery too, although I am told it was absolute bedlam on Monday.
And now here it is. Thursday morning. We are at Hill House. Ziggy is going for a service and a roadworthy this morning so we can start the process of transferring ownership from mother to me. There are other useful things to be done today, such as posting Flynn's birthday present. It's not very heavy but it is rather large. Mostly his present will be postage!!!!
I bought a box of apricots last time I was in Wilson's. At the weekend I made apricot and custard pies, using my new pie making machine. They could have done with slightly longer in the pie machine but they were very tasty. I am hoping to use my dehydrator to make dried apricots, plus I might make a pot or two of jam. The rest can go in the freezer against any future apricot emergency!
Apricot pies:
Sunday evening summer barbecue with salads:
On Monday I abandoned Jim to his own devices and trundled down to Mount Martha to take Stella to her GP appointment. I was quite shocked when we went into his waiting room. We had barely had time to sit down when he called us in. I expect to wait for at least 30 minutes. It's my quiet time, waiting in a doctor's waiting room. I had things to read and everything!!! But no. No quiet time for me.
We drove back along the beach road and had lunch in Fine Foods and a potter in the Mount Martha shops. It was a beautiful day and holiday makers were making the most of the sunshine. The cafes and coffee shops were all nice and busy.
I left Mount Martha early on Tuesday morning and went back to work. It's still fairly quiet on the roads so was a pleasant drive into town. It was fairly quiet at the surgery too, although I am told it was absolute bedlam on Monday.
And now here it is. Thursday morning. We are at Hill House. Ziggy is going for a service and a roadworthy this morning so we can start the process of transferring ownership from mother to me. There are other useful things to be done today, such as posting Flynn's birthday present. It's not very heavy but it is rather large. Mostly his present will be postage!!!!
I bought a box of apricots last time I was in Wilson's. At the weekend I made apricot and custard pies, using my new pie making machine. They could have done with slightly longer in the pie machine but they were very tasty. I am hoping to use my dehydrator to make dried apricots, plus I might make a pot or two of jam. The rest can go in the freezer against any future apricot emergency!
Apricot pies:
Sunday evening summer barbecue with salads:
Saturday, January 05, 2019
They warned us that it was going to be hot yesterday. So I closed the house down against the heat (windows, curtains, doors all shut, including internal doors). Jim was given firm instructions to keep his phone with him, to heed any warnings that came his way and to implement the Running Away Fire Plan if need be. Lindsey and I went to work on what was, I have to say, a very pleasant early morning.
And the morning remained quite pleasant. But by lunchtime the temperature had gone up quite considerably. I'm not sure what the final temperature was; I think the official temperature was 41 or 42d but I suspect it was hotter than that in the Summerhill carpark. Mercifully, the air conditioning was working in the shopping complex. It wasn't working on the last warm to hot days we had and it wasn't nice at all in the surgery.
Then the cool change came through and the temperature plummeted down to around 27 or 28 in almost no time.
Fortunately there was no need to implement a fire plan. The only time of danger around our place was, oddly enough, well after the cool change had come through and as the sun was setting when we were treated to a loud thunderstorm. What made it a bit risky was that there was no rain but there was wind. A local lightning strike might have been interesting.
This morning when we went out to the Bridge Mall Market, we were wearing jumpers and wishing we had jackets with us.
These extremes really aren't necessary, dear Weather Dogs. A nice, steady 25 or 26 would be more than satisfactory. Very acceptable, in fact.
In anticipation of a nice, steady temperature, we have brought the barbecue out of the garage. We also bought a camping gazebo for the back garden. And a camping picnic table. There's another camping picnic table on its way so we can have an 8 seater rather than a 4.
Here is the garden earlier this afternoon:
I think it will look rather lovely when it has more boxes with veg and flowers, and perhaps a few shrubs (though we might need a jackhammer to dig holes for the shrubs).
Oh - and I have been cleaning some of the windows. I had a problem getting the fly screen back on the first window I cleaned. It simply would not go back. It was manifestly too big to go back, which seemed ridiculous because it had fitted into that space when I took it out. So I asked that nice Mr Google if he could help and he drew my attention to a YouTube video produced by Bunnings. It's remarkably simple when you know how!! If the weather holds, I might do a few more windows tomorrow. It makes a significant difference. The house is 13 years old and you begin to wonder if the windows have ever been cleaned, given the grime and the cobwebs. Come to that, I don't think I have ever lived in a house that has been quite so cobweb infested on the outside, and I've lived in some quite rural properties the past. I suspect that the spiders will win no matter how hard I try. But I am going to try :-D
And the morning remained quite pleasant. But by lunchtime the temperature had gone up quite considerably. I'm not sure what the final temperature was; I think the official temperature was 41 or 42d but I suspect it was hotter than that in the Summerhill carpark. Mercifully, the air conditioning was working in the shopping complex. It wasn't working on the last warm to hot days we had and it wasn't nice at all in the surgery.
Then the cool change came through and the temperature plummeted down to around 27 or 28 in almost no time.
Fortunately there was no need to implement a fire plan. The only time of danger around our place was, oddly enough, well after the cool change had come through and as the sun was setting when we were treated to a loud thunderstorm. What made it a bit risky was that there was no rain but there was wind. A local lightning strike might have been interesting.
This morning when we went out to the Bridge Mall Market, we were wearing jumpers and wishing we had jackets with us.
These extremes really aren't necessary, dear Weather Dogs. A nice, steady 25 or 26 would be more than satisfactory. Very acceptable, in fact.
In anticipation of a nice, steady temperature, we have brought the barbecue out of the garage. We also bought a camping gazebo for the back garden. And a camping picnic table. There's another camping picnic table on its way so we can have an 8 seater rather than a 4.
Here is the garden earlier this afternoon:
I think it will look rather lovely when it has more boxes with veg and flowers, and perhaps a few shrubs (though we might need a jackhammer to dig holes for the shrubs).
Oh - and I have been cleaning some of the windows. I had a problem getting the fly screen back on the first window I cleaned. It simply would not go back. It was manifestly too big to go back, which seemed ridiculous because it had fitted into that space when I took it out. So I asked that nice Mr Google if he could help and he drew my attention to a YouTube video produced by Bunnings. It's remarkably simple when you know how!! If the weather holds, I might do a few more windows tomorrow. It makes a significant difference. The house is 13 years old and you begin to wonder if the windows have ever been cleaned, given the grime and the cobwebs. Come to that, I don't think I have ever lived in a house that has been quite so cobweb infested on the outside, and I've lived in some quite rural properties the past. I suspect that the spiders will win no matter how hard I try. But I am going to try :-D
Tuesday, January 01, 2019
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